E 0829        SISKIN

The word " siskin " is, via Middle Dutch, of Germanic origin .

H 0872            ס י ס , ס ו ס

Concept of root : fast moving

Hebrew word

pronunciation

English meanings

;ס ו ס

;ס ו ס

ס י ס

sus;

sus, sos;

sis

horse;

swallow;

swallow

Related English words

siskin

Comparison between European words and Hebrew

Languages

Words

Pronunciation

English meanings

Similarity in roots

Hebrew

ס ו ס ;


ס י ס

sus;

sus, sos;

 sis

horse;

swallow

s (u) s ;

s (u/o) s ;

s (i) s

Greek

σους ;

σευω ;

-

σουμαι ;

-

συσσευω

-

sus;

seuwo;

-

sumai;

-

süsseuwo

-

movement;

to put into fast motion;

to rush, dash;

to hasten forward  (together)

s (u) (s);

s . (u)

Dutch

suizen;

-

sijs

s(ui)zen ;

-

 s(ei)s

to move very fast;

siskin

s (u) s ;

-

s (i) s

Old  High German

sūsōn

suson

to move fast

s (u) s .

 

 

Hebrew SUS, SIS < Proto-Semitic SUS --- *SÜS- Proto-Germanic < *SŪS Indo-European

 

 

Horses have some of their names because they are fast animals when they run. And the Hebrew name of a horse is "SUS". Scandinavians call a horse "hest" and "hast" is "hurry", though this seems fortuitous. A horse may as well be an animal that can "hurry" fast. Some suppose that Latin "equus" is linked to an old root "*oku = fast". And Greek "hippos " may be related to "hiptamai" that says "to fly" but also "to dash forward". And especially we see that according to some scholars the word "sis" in the Bible already is used to say "swift". But this is not generally accepted .

 

Certainly this recalls Greek "petomai" that means both "to fly" and "to run". The most impressive characteristic of horses certainly was their speed, though Pegasos even managed to fly.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew. The hypothesis, and not only by us, is that there is an old root "*S W S" for "to move fast" and another one "Z W Z" for "to move slowly". There can be no doubt about this second one, that still lives on in the verb " ז ז, zaz". The first one is a supposition, based on the two names, shown above, for a horse and a swallow, that fast moving animal and fast moving bird. We find it sufficiently interesting to insert, as we have a Dutch verb that fits in with it for similarity.

     

    Another point that should not leave doubt is that the words "sus" and "sis" are related. A Waw, ו , here pronounced U, in Hebrew very often develops into a Yod, י . And there are two moderns words that regard horses and have such a Yod. A stable boy is a " ס י ס , sayas " and horse-breeding is called " ס י ס ו ת , sayasut ". With all this, the hypothesis acquires some strength.
    And also important is that Akkadian has an "I" in "sisù" for "horse".

     

    Interesting is that a swallow is named with three different vowels : "ס ו ס , sos, sus" and "ס י ס , sis". THis last version is used in Modern Hebrew.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Semitic . Some scholars supposed a root " * S W S W". instead of " *S W S" as in Hebrew . In fact one finds some feeble indications for a longer root in some languages, and we tend to consider those, which is certainly the case with the added final W ( or vowel "U" ) in Akkadian, as additional to the original root, that probably was " *ס ו ס , S W S" as in Hebrew . The root is seen in Aramaic and Syriac "ס ו ס י א, susiyà = horse". Akkadian changed from "U" into "I" in "sisū = horse".

 

Note:
  • Greek has obliged us to quote a number of words to make the picture clear. We see that fast moving is expressed by a root that shares the "S" and "U < W" with Hebrew, but does not have a second S, except in the noun "sus", where it may be a suffix, not part of the root. It is an indication for kinship, with comparable meaning and rather similar root.

 

Note:
  • Dutch and German. Dutch "suizen" has two different meanings. One is acoustic, meaning "to rustle (leaves, rain), sigh (wind), sing (ears) " plus some meanings referring to relatively newer things, f.e. "to whizz (bullets) ". The other is kinetic and stands for "to move fast", in many senses. In such a case, we must try to establish if we have one root with two meanings or two roots of different origin. Scholars mostly tend towards the first idea and with "suizen" the general opinion is that it has one root and that the original meaning is the acoustic one. The kinetic one has then developed out of the acoustic one. This is not impossible, and it may have occurred with English "to whizz", but a logic development would be the other way, with the action that causes the sound coining the root (coming first) and the sound joining later (following) in the use of the same root.

     

    We should take into consideration that fast movements mostly create sounds that are louder and different in character than the sounds indicated by "suizen". The sister word of "suizen" in German is "sausen" and is used for acoustic meanings, but in popular language one still finds it to say " to run, fly", as done of course by horses and swallows. In Old High German, like in Middle High German "sūsen", "sūsōn " still meant "to move fast" in general. This seems to imply that the kinetic sense of the root is older than the acoustic one.

     

    Consequently the situation looks to be well explained as one of two independent similar roots, one with acoustic and one with kinetic message.

 

Note:
  • English and Dutch. The English name "siskin" is a loanword from older Dutch "sijskijn", a diminutive of the name "sijs" for the same bird.

 

Note:
  • Hebrew and Dutch have used this root with the message of fast moving for two different birds. The swallow is very convincing as a fast moving appearance. The siskin to a lesser extent, but while it belongs to the fringillidae, ornithologists point out that among those it sticks out for its fast and agile flight. A swift bird.

 

Note:
  • Proto-Germanic. There is a habit of using diminutives for small birds, even if they have a normal name. Thus a "sijs" in Middle Dutch often was called a "siseken" and in Middle Low German a "sīsek". And Danish "sise" has little sisters in Swedish "siska" and Norwegian "sisik". Proto-Germanic probably had the form "*S Ī S" for this little bird. But for the verb expressing fast movement we compare simply German "sausen" and Dutch "suizen". In the first an " A " has been added in diphthonging, in the other the vowel changes into "UI from "Ü". This is confirmed in Old High German "suson" and Middle Dutch "susen": "*S Ü S-".

 

Note:
  • Indo-European. On the basis of information regarding Greek, Slavic ( see below) and Germanic a hypothesis of "*S Ū S-" seems reasonable.

     

    Slavic. Russian and Cech have a word "ciž" and Polish "czyž" for "siskin".

 

 

 

 

 
Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 28/11/2012 at 16.34.14